It seemed to him that she would think less of him if he
did not resent and punish such an insult. In the heat of his
resentment, therefore, he sat down and wrote to his superior as
follows:
"GENERAL HARERO: Sir-Having received, at different periods and under
peculiar circumstances, insults from you that neither become me as a
gentleman tamely to submit to, nor you as a soldier to give, I do
hereby demand satisfaction. It would be worse than folly in me to
pretend that I do not understand the incentive that governs you-the
actuating motive that has led to these attacks upon me. In my duty
as an officer I have never failed in the least; this you know very
well, and have even allowed before now, to my very face. Your
attacks upon me are, therefore, plainly traceable to a spirit of
jealousy as to my better success with the Senorita Gonzales than
yourself. Unless I greatly mistake, the lady herself has discovered
this spirit within your breast.
"Now, sir, the object of this note is to demand of you to lay aside
the station you hold, and to forget our relative ranks as officers
in the Spanish army, and to meet me on the platform of our
individual characters as gentlemen, and render me that satisfaction
for the insult which you have placed upon me, which I have a right
to demand.
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